196 
CERYLE ALCYON. 
especially if while excavating, the birds chance to encounter a stone or if they come to a 
root, they will go under it. The termination of the burrow is enlarged and scooped out 
into a nest-like cavity which is to receive the eggs that are deposited about the second 
week in May. I never found that any material was used in constructing a nest for I have 
always taken the fresh eggs from the bare sand or gravel, but later, when the young occupy 
the holes, they are found on a bed of fish bones and scales which are thrown up by the 
birds, much after the manner of Owls and Hawks. I once kept some young alive for a 
short time and when first captured, they threw up fish scales and bones compressed togeth¬ 
er in oval formed bodies which were surprisingly large when compared with the size of 
the birds. 
The Kingfishers were more abundant on the Susquehanna River than I ever saw them 
elsewhere and I have found a dozen holes in a half hour’s row along the stream all of 
which were occupied. I opened several nests in order to study the growth of the young 
and in all cases found the fish scales and bones as described. When exposed to the light, 
the birds would utter a lisping cry which did not, in the least, resemble the rattle of the 
adults. As the young do not leave the nest-like cavity for some time, the odor that aris¬ 
es from the mass of filth which accumulates in the extremity of the burrow is perfectly 
intolerable. But later in life, not long before they fly, the little Kingfishers enter the 
tunnel and may often be seen sitting at its entrance. When we approached the locality 
in which the nest was placed, the adult birds did not manifest any uneasiness because they 
were accustomed to seeing many "persons pass daily, in fact some of the holes were made 
in a bank where a public road ran close to the margin of the river and some of the nests 
were directly beneath the wheel tracks. But when we actually began to dig out their 
domiciles, the Kingfishers exhibited the utmost alarm, flying excitedly about and giving 
their harsh notes continuously but never venturing very near us, as they evidently under¬ 
stood that we were enemies. Further up the river, in sections more remote from settle¬ 
ments, they were as shy as in Massachusetts and showed great solicitude whenever their 
breeding places were approached. 
The Kingfishers learn very quickly where they are safe; thus they are always shy 
wherever they are habitually shot at, but in sections where they are protected, they are 
remarkably tame. I have seen them quietly perched within a few yards of pedestrians, in 
localities where the use of a gun was strictly forbidden, while on ponds only a short dis¬ 
tance away, they would be exceedingly wary. They are, however, naturally shy for those 
which I have found in the remote sections of Florida where they were never disturbed, 
would not allow me to approach very near them. The young which I endeavored to rear 
appeared sullen, probably through fear, would not feed readily, and soon died. It is quite 
noticeable that these birds are not apt to start at the report of a gun which is fired at a short 
distance away, even if the shot strikes quite near them, and may be shot at repeatedly with 
a rifle at from seventy-five to a hundred yards distance without moving, provided the ball 
does not actually hit the object on which they are sitting. I have thought that this was 
due to the similarity between the sound made by the report of a gun and the shock which 
they must experience when plunging into the water. The birds usually ascend to the 
